SANTA CRUZ, Calif. -- Despite a dominant offensive push, outshooting the third-seeded Wisconsin-Platteville Pioneers by a final count of 21-5, the second-seeded Christopher Newport men's soccer team suffered a 2-1 setback in the Coast-To-Coast Athletic Conference Semifinals on Friday afternoon. The Captains (10-4-2) cut the lead in half with a second-half goal, but could not complete the comeback in the semifinal setback. 

Platteville scored in the third minute and added an ever important insurance tally in the 23rd minute as they improved to 13-1-5 overall and earned a trip to the C2C Championship Game on Sunday afternoon. 

Facing a 2-0 deficit heading into the second half, the Captains ratcheted up the offensive pressure and outshot their opponents, 13-1 in the second half, including a 6-0 edge in shots on-goal. Christopher Newport finally found the back of the net in the 55th minute when Jonah Fitz set up a score by Elton Quintanilla. 

Kyle Stenzel moved up into the midfield to start the play as he inserted a pass into the middle of the box. After the UW-Platteville defense cleared the ball away down the right side, Fitz collected it with plenty of space to operate. He surveyed the field ahead of him and played a beautiful long pass right to the feet of Quintanilla near the top of the box. The forward then made a stutter step move to his right, beat the defender and blistered a blazing bouncer into the left side of the goal. 

Given new life and facing just a one-goal deficit, the Captains continued to pressure the Platteville defense. Freshman Yazan Yaghmmour slipped a hard shot just wide of the net and Quintanilla put another shot on net a minute later. Trevor Smith ripped a hard shot wide and Jonathon Leiding added another that whistled left of the net. 

As the minutes ticked away, the Captains got attempts from Mike Hackwroth blocked by a defender and Drew McWhinney smashed one on frame that was saved by the Pioneers keeper. Yaghmmour added another attempt on frame in the 76th minute, but Wisconsin-Platteville continued to hold up defensively. 

A final push by the Captains saw Leiding with two more shots, including one with less than a minute ago that needed to be saved off the line by a defender on the would be equalizer. Seth Aiken made eight saves in goal for the Pioneer while Hayden Dewey picked up one stop in goal for the Captains. 

The CNU defense held UWP to just five total shots. 

Christopher Newport will now be forced to await the decision of the NCAA Division III Championship Committee to see if they have done enough to earn a berth into the 2023 postseason. The selection show is set for Monday afternoon. CNU, with a 10-4-2 overall record was ranked second in the most recent NCAA Regional Rankings. 

NOTE: Following the conclusion of the 2023 Championship, the Coast-To-Coast Athletic Conference announced the All-Tournament Team. Kyle Stenzel and Elton Quintanilla were selected to the All-Tournament Team for the Captains.